Tobacco News

Annual government funding for tobacco control is just several hundred thousand yuan for each province on the Chinese mainland, far below what’s needed and much less than the amounts provided in other countries, anti-smoking experts said.
In the United States, hundreds of millions of dollars are allocated annually for tobacco control research and projects, said Jonathan Samet, chairman of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ream more »

The Tobacco Board, which oversees cultivation, trade and marketing of tobacco in the country, is now exploring options of tobacco exports to China.

A team led by chairman G Kamalavardhan Rao and others had recently visited China to study the market conditions and also to interact with State Trade Monopoly Administration (STMA), the policymaking body of tobacco industry in China. Ream more »

The Indian tobacco industry is eyeing China as a potential importer of Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) grown in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. A delegation of Tobacco Board officials and traders, led by Board Chairman G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, recently visited China to study the farming, curing and trading patterns of tobacco.

Sharing the details of the four-day trip with journalists here on Monday, Mr. Rao said the China Tobacco Monopoly Administration (CTMA), the nodal agency, has expressed its willingness to resume tobacco trading with India.
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Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and chairman of Microsoft, and Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu Inc., formed a strategic alliance on June 11 in Beijing to promote healthy lifestyles and create a smoke-free environment both in China and around the word.
“This will be a long-term, open-ended alliance, and Robin and I would like to welcome more partners and we expect to see more Chinese enterprises and all facets of society and focus on public issues,” Ream more »

China launches a ban on smoking in indoor public spaces Sunday but the effort is widely viewed as vague and half-hearted and few expect it to have much of an impact in the tobacco-addicted country.
The nationwide prohibition is designed to bring China — which has more than 300 million smokers, roughly equal to the entire population of the United States — more in line with health regulations in developed countries. Ream more »

Nearly 44 percent and 56 percent of Chinese youth are exposed to second-hand smoke at home and in public places, respectively, according to the latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey.There are nearly 700 million children in the world and 180 million in China suffering from second-hand smoking, said Cui Minyan, head of Safe Kids China, a Shanghai-based branch of Safe Kids Worldwide. The Chinese Society of Respiratory Diseases, Safe Kids Worldwide, and many hospitals jointly launched the “Tobacco Control Green Project” on May 24 right before the “World No Tobacco Day” on May 31, which is aimed at creating a healthy smoke-free environment for children. Read more